Is Intel betting on Android for hybrid laptops?

Intel has started to promote Android-based hybrid laptops (which are essentially tablets with a keyboard appendage) as Windows 8 has yet to increase sales significantly.

According to Monica Chen and Joseph Tsai from Digitimes, a slew of vendors including Lenovo, HP, Toshiba, Asus and Acer will launch devices based on Android and powered by Intel. Lenovo is said to unveil a Yoga laptop in May with an 11in display according to the unnamed sources.

The company already has an 11in model – the Yoga 11 - based on Windows RT but powered by an ARM-based Nvidia Tegra 3 SoC. The rest of the manufacturers are expected to bring those notebooks on the market in the second half of the year.

Intel, the sources claim, see the sweet spot for Android-based notebook at around $500. It is likely that these devices will run on Intel’s newest generation of Atom processors, which are based on the Bay Trail+ architecture and which powers the Lenovo IdeaPhone K900.

It is also worth noting that the second half of the year will see the appearance on the wider market of new system-on-chips from Nvidia (Tegra 4) and Qualcomm (Snapdragon 800) which are likely to take on Intel’s Atom rivals.